SMB’s today are a little leery of the recent explosions in market share Amazon has eaten up. Big Box stores are also concerned, because they are more likely to lose customer share to Amazon than an SMB is. So, they had to adapt their approach and are meeting some success by pivoting.

We all want to rule Google and Bing, right? We all want to be in the Top 3 results for all of our desired KeyWords, right? Well, in order to do that, you’re going to know some essential basics about Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This post will give you a mile-high overview of SEO, and get you moving in the right direction. Think of this as a Top 10 Best Practices for how to begin to get those search engine rankings you (and all of your competitors) desire.

Keyword Density is a ratio of desired search terms displayed in the content of a page to the overall content of that page. For example, let’s say you’re an auto mechanic in Santa Monica, CA who specializes in fixing domestic vehicles. One of your Keywords might be “Domestic Auto Mechanic Santa Monica.” Another might be “Auto Repair Santa Monica.” Still another might be “Car Repair Santa Monica.” Of course, your specific keywords should be researched and determined for maximum impact.

Your Keyword Density Ratio would be the ratio of keywords-to-“normal” words in any particular page or post on your website. The lower the density, the less search engines will feel you adequately address the desired topic and search terms. The higher the density, and you could be down-graded or penalize for what is called “keyword stuffing.”

It’s time to have a dirty conversation. We try to stay on the positive side of everything, but every now and then we have to just talk about something negative. Not because we like it, but because sometimes telling the truth comes with telling a side which no one likes to hear or know about. Knowing these ugly truths, or more accurately exposing certain outright lies, and learning why they are simply not true will help your business. How? Because you will know how to avoid these scammers and those who give digital professionals a bad name. Now, while Circle Marketing is a marketing agency and handles much more than just online and digital marketing, there is a naiveté in most good-hearted and trusting business owners and managers who aren’t as proficient or aware of the latest and most effective strategies and how to tell if an online and/or web professional you’re thinking about contracting work to has really “got the goods.” We’ve all heard the horror stories of how some business got swindled by a so-called “web designer” who left them high and dry with nothing to show for the money they spent, after being promised the world…or at least a darn web site!

Organic Search rankings are the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) results you achieve after you have done a great deal of acquiring back links, and have performed as much optimization on your own site as possible to improve it’s rankings. Paid rankings are when you achieve visibility in the highlighted advertising section of search engine results pages. Paid obviously costs you money when someone clicks your ad (or sometimes when a viewer sees it, depending on your set-up), but organic rankings are free when someone views and clicks your listing. While no one knows the complete search or ranking algorithms 100%, we have been able to do extensive research over and over about what has been known to positively effect rankings.